From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 18 Rank 1 Martial Artist

But Su Wenyuan knew just how extraordinary this person was.

Zhou Kaiquan was a guard brought by Zhao Yuanlang from the prefectural city, a proper martial artist of the first rank.

First grade.

In the Great Yan Dynasty, the ranks of martial artists range from rank one to rank nine, with rank one being the lowest and rank nine the highest.

Lin Yan had heard about the first three ranks of martial arts realms in the refugee community: the first rank Body Tempering Realm, the second rank True Qi Realm, and the third rank Unceasing Realm.

Don't underestimate this rank. In this remote and impoverished town, a rank one martial artist can do whatever he wants.

The one who was crushing stones at the village entrance that night was Zhou Kaiquan.

"Go with Accountant Su," Zhao Yuanlang said. "Find that Lin Yan, but don't alert him. Find out who he is."

Zhou Kaiquan nodded: "Yes."

"If he tries to run away," Zhao Yuanlang paused, "bring him back, alive."

"clear."

Su Wenyuan and Zhou Kaiquan came out of Qingfengxiang; it was almost dark.

Instead of taking the main road, the two went directly out of the town's north gate and walked along the wilderness towards Black Wind Ridge.

"Where did you lose track of them during the day?" Zhou Kaiquan asked.

"On the west side of Black Wind Ridge, in a side gully," Su Wenyuan said. "The terrain there is complicated, with many forks in the road. It was my first time there, so I wasn't familiar with it."

Zhou Kaiquan nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The two climbed the mountain in the dark, not fast, but very steadily.

Zhou Kaiquan walked ahead, his footsteps so light they were almost silent. Su Wenyuan followed behind, silently comparing himself to Zhou Kaiquan during the day—he was far inferior to Zhou Kaiquan in the present.

That's what a true expert does.

When they reached the vicinity of Chagou, Zhou Kaiquan stopped and squatted down to look at it for a while.

"He did find you." He pointed to several almost invisible marks on the ground. "Here, here, and here, these are all fake footprints he deliberately left to lead you that way."

Su Wenyuan glanced at it but couldn't figure out what it was about.

Zhou Kaiquan stood up, walked along the ditch, and walked to the bushes. He parted the bushes to take a look, and then looked up at the branches above his head.

"He climbed up from here," Zhou Kaiquan said, pointing to a very faint scratch on the tree trunk. "Then he jumped from the canopy to that tree over there and headed north."

Su Wenyuan followed his finger and saw that there were traces of being stepped on on a few branches.

He was convinced.

"Let's go." Zhou Kaiquan walked north, his pace neither fast nor slow, but each step was taken in a position that would not make a sound.

Su Wenyuan followed behind, trying his best to imitate him, but he always felt that he was missing something.

The two walked north along the ridge for about half an hour when Zhou Kaiquan suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal Su Wenyuan not to move.

Su Wenyuan held his breath.

Zhou Kaiquan listened intently for a while, then pointed to a grove of low trees to his left.

There are lights over there.

It was very faint, almost invisible through the layers of branches, but Zhou Kaiquan could hear the sound of firewood burning.

The two crouched down behind a clump of bushes.

The firelight was coming from below a cliff face a few dozen steps away.

There was a crack in the cliff face, covered by vines, with only a narrow slit visible. Firelight leaked out from the crack, casting a small patch of orange light on the ground.

Zhou Kaiquan stared at the crack for a long time before stepping back.

"There are people inside," he said in a low voice. "At least three, one of them is breathing very shallowly, probably because he's trained."

Su Wenyuan asked, "What do we do now?"

"Wait and see," Zhou Kaiquan said. "Let's see where he goes tomorrow."

The two of them crouched behind the bushes all night.

As soon as it was light, Lin Yan came out of the stone chamber.

He plans to go down the mountain today.

It wasn't to go back to the cave dwelling, but to go to the edge of town to gather some information.

Zhou Dahu has been on the run for three days. He needs to know the town's reaction and Zhao Yuanlang's attitude.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped off the cliff.

The sensation of "viewing the mountains" exploded in my mind.

Two people.

It wasn't one person, it was two people.

One was to the west, close by, about forty paces. The other was to the east, far away, about seventy or eighty paces, but that position was excellent, just enough to see the exit of the cliff face without being discovered.

Lin Yan stood in front of the cliff, motionless.

he was thinking.

There was only one person yesterday, but there are two today.

This indicates that Zhao Yuanlang was dissatisfied with losing track of the suspect yesterday and therefore sent more people.

and--

Lin Yan looked in the east direction but couldn't see anything. However, his intuition told him that the person over there was no ordinary person.

It's different from yesterday's.

Although yesterday's location was well-hidden, [Guanshan] was still able to capture some traces of it.

Today, if he hadn't spotted the person on the west side first and followed that person's line of sight backward, he wouldn't have discovered that there was someone on the east side at all.

It was well hidden.

Lin Yan withdrew his gaze, pretending not to have noticed anything, went to the mountain stream to fetch water, picked some wild vegetables, and then returned to the stone chamber.

He put down the water bag, squatted in front of the fire, and his mind raced with calculations.

I can't go home.

These two people are blocking the doorway. If he goes back, it will be like exposing his mother and sister to their eyes.

We can't go to town either.

Going there would be like walking into a trap.

One cannot even stay near the stone chamber for too long.

Today they're just watching, but what about tomorrow? The day after? What if they decide to take action?

We have to go.

But it wasn't running away, it was maneuvering.

Lin Yan stood up and said to Madam Chen, "Mother, I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back before dark. Don't leave the stone chamber, and don't open the door for anyone."

Chen looked at him, her lips moved, and in the end she only said one word: "Okay."

Lin Yan came out of the stone chamber and instead of going down the mountain, he went up the mountain.

He walked at a moderate pace, just like when he went into the mountains to collect bones, occasionally squatting down to turn over stones and occasionally parting the grass to take a look.

Two people followed behind.

The one on the west side is closer, and they used the same method as yesterday, maintaining a distance of forty or fifty paces.

The one to the east was far away, always hovering on the edge of Lin Yan's perception, sometimes appearing and sometimes disappearing.

Lin Yan walked for an hour and arrived at an old forest.

He had been here twice. The trees were dense, the path was narrow, and the ground was covered with decaying leaves. It was soft and spongy when you stepped on it, and if you were careful, you wouldn't leave any footprints at all.

He quickened his pace, weaving through the trees.

The footsteps behind them quickened.

Lin Yan turned into a narrow animal trail that he had scouted out beforehand. The trail was lined with thorny bushes on both sides and was only used by wild boars.

He bent over and crawled through, his tattered jacket rustling as it was caught on the thorns.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, we arrived at a small open space.

He didn't stop, but turned left and disappeared into a dense thicket of thorns.

There was a secret passage in the thicket that only he knew about, dug out by wild boars, just big enough for a person to crawl through on their stomach.

Lin Yan lay down and crawled in using both hands and feet.

The thorns pricked the back of his hand, causing a sharp pain, but he didn't stop.

After climbing for about twenty steps, I reached the other end of the thorn bushes.

He crawled out, stood up, and patted the mud off his body.

[Guanshan] sensed that the person's presence to the west was still outside the thorn bushes, and hesitated whether to go in.

The one to the east... has disappeared.

Lin Yan was stunned for a moment, then turned and ran.